https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport/
One distro, with a hardware compatibility list.

And a whole lot more.
http://distrowatch.com/

Some versions of linux can be run on a live CD. Why not burn a few distros and see which you like.

If you are learning at a university it maybe worthwhile to use the same version that they are using.

Hi

People say that Linux Mint is a good choice if you are not used to run Linux.
I have Mint Elyssa and really like it. Very easy to run when you are used to Windows. They have recently released Mint 7 Gloria.
Other people say that Feodora is good if you want to dig deeper into Linux. Feodora 11 is released and seems to be working quite good according to some computer magazines.
My personal advise is to start whit Mint and if you want to dig deeper move on to other distros later when you feel more familiar whit Linux.

Good luck whatever you choose =)

I was curious about Linux and switched from Windows to the latest version of Ubuntu about 3 or 4 months ago..

Personally, I think it's a very easy distro to use and there's a huge amount of online support for it. I've never had any real problems installing drivers/libraries/software and using deb packages makes installations even easier. If compatibility is what you're looking for, then I'd definitely recommend it. Linux is very suited to programming as well - I've found coding quite a bit smoother after I switched..

Good luck!
www.ubuntu.com/

Ubuntu is a very good OS. You can install an virtual machine at your computer and you can test many linux OS before choose one. Fedora is another good Linux OS.

thanx can u tell from where i'll get drivers for ubuntu.
i m having dell studio xps 1340.if u can give me a link.

Are you running additional hardware? If not, you shouldn't need any drivers.. If you are then have a look through the link Salem posted.
If you still can't find what you're looking for then maybe try looking through ubuntuforums.org

> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport/
> One distro, with a hardware compatibility list.
Sometimes, it's like serving up a huge banquet with row after row of tables full of food.

> i m having dell studio xps 1340.if u can give me a link.
And still some people will sit in the middle of it all crying "I'm hungry, fetch me some food!".

When someone announces themselves as "i am student pursuing bachelor engineering in computer science.", I expect a great deal more initiative in taking what was offered and going with it.

If you don't get some initiative RSN, "pursuing" will be all you will do, because "achieving" takes more than just sitting around waiting for people to hand it over.

if you are starting out, Ubuntu is very friendly. Plus ubuntu has amazing community support. It will be useful for you to get a hang of linux. You can install drivers from ubuntu's software sources aka synaptics. Alternatively you can google for the driver and download it.

Once you get comfortable using Ubuntu, go for slackware - this is where your skills on linux will really be tested!!!

Good luck